Metis Global Partners LLC Has $4.21 Million Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 18.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $115,881,000 after acquiring an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at $84,393,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 205.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $59,838,000 after acquiring an additional 136,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 in the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $333.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE ESS traded down $0.98 on Friday, hitting $301.76. 316,714 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 379,049. The company's 50 day moving average price is $297.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $209.17 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.